Episode 796: Podcasting Under Pressure
Date January 13, 2016 Summary Ben and Sam banter about Ian Kennedy and their free-agent-contract predictions, then answer listener emails about the Dodgers’ front office, The Players’ Tribune, Coors Field and Gerardo Parra, silent free agents, and more. Topics * Los Angeles Dodgers' front office * Player media relations * Optimal baserunning aggressiveness * The Player's Tribune * Hitters worse at Coors Field * Team lodging and hotel relationships Intro Paul McCartney, "Too Many People" Outro Smash Mouth, "Under Pressure" Episode outtake sound clip Banter * Ian Kennedy signing rumors * Episode 766 follow-up: Sam is about $110 million behind Ben in the free agent contract draft. Email Questions * Kelvin: "With the Dodgers acquisition of many of baseball's arguable top minds over the past few years, I couldn't help but wonder if there becomes a point of diminishing returns. Put another way, do you believe it is possible for there to be too many cooks in one front office? If so, at what point?" * Pele: "I was curious as to why there are no interviews with free agents in the offseason. One would think that beat writers would call the free agents and pressure them for comments, for example Justin Upton. Or if he's working out in Florida or Arizona someone's gotta be there right now and should be able to approach him with a microphone, ask him where he is on the negotiations, what his status is. It seems like sometimes baseball players are treated very gently by the media compared to if you look at another area like politics." * Brian: "On a recent email show Sam mentioned aggressive running and if you're not getting thrown out you're being too timid on the basepaths. If this is the case what is the acceptable rate of running into outs and wouldn't that be the same rate as being caught stealing? Does it stand to reason that if you are never caught stealing that you are never attempting to steal enough? Or are there too many variables (catcher's arm, pitcher's time to the plate, pitcher's move to first, etc)? What about being picked off? If you are never picked off are you not taking as big a lead as possible and therefore not giving yourself a better chance of not making a running out? And is being TOOTBLAN ever acceptable?" * Gary: "Why do sportswriters feel the need to openly mock The Player's Tribune any time it's mentioned? Most of the articles on that site seem to be very well written. Is that the reason there are so many derisive comments from writers (Le Batard, Bob Ryan, PTI, etc.)? It comes off as jealousy. People that write for newspapers also have editors, I don't think readers are ignorant of reality. Why does it seem like writers get angry if a jock picks up a keyboard? Any insight from a couple of professional sportswriters would be interesting." * John: "Terry Francona lives in a hotel in downtown Cleveland during the baseball season. Let's say he has the room for 190 days. The cost of renting that room individually for each night would probably end up between $150-$250. What do you think Francona pays for the season? How much of an extended stay discount does he get? Does he get a better discount because of who he is or no discount because he doesn't need it? If he pays $150 per night it comes to $28,500 for the season. If he pays $250 per night it's $47,500. The guy makes millions and can afford either option but how would you ballpark it? Play Index * Inspired by a listener email, Sam uses the Play Index to look up players who were worse hitters at Coors Field when compared to their career numbers. * Gerardo Parra was recently signed by the Rockies and has worse numbers during his career at Coors Field. * For batters that had 100 plate appearances or more at Coors Field, only 13% performed worse at Coors Field. * Lyle Overbay had a .522 OPS at Coors Field and a .776 OPS overall. Notes * Sam notes that agents are likely going to counsel their players to not speak about ongoing contract negotiations. * In Episode 799 Ben and Sam spoke at length to Andy McCullough about The Players' Tribune. * Sam has been pleasantly surprised by the quality of articles on The Players' Tribune and is less concerned about the process of article development (working with other editors and writers). * Ben and Sam think that Terry Francona has his lodging negotiated and paid for as part of his managerial contract. * In the episode outro sound clip Sam listens to Smash Mouth's cover of "Under Pressure," which was released a few days after David Bowie's passing. Sam compares it to an ironically sunny song from a horror movie. Sam then details an experience he had in college with the band Sugarcult, when he got to hang out with them but passed on the chance to join them on stage for a Ramones cover song. Links * Effectively Wild Episode 796: Podcasting Under Pressure * The Dollop Podcast * Smash Mouth - "Under Pressure" Category:Episodes Category:Email Episodes